"D.I.Y Duck" is the latest short to feature Donald. It's based on the Donald shorts of the 40's and early 50's that pit him against a stubborn object. In this case, it's a lamp that won't work. He runs to the local hardware store and buys a light...but then the lamp doesn't work. Things keep escalating and escalating, until Donald's house - and temper - goes to pieces around him. The animation is obviously made-for-streaming, but there are some funny gags, including his attempts at patching everything.
Soon as "D.I.Y Duck" ended, I headed out for my doctor's appointment. Locked my bike at the rack across from the Collingswood Senior Center, then went to the other side of the street to Collingswood Family Medicine for my doctor's appointment. There were only two other people in the waiting room when I arrived. I signed paperwork and was called about 20 minutes after I got in. Ten minutes after that, a sweet nurse took my blood pressure, and I waited another fifteen or so minutes for the doctor.
Dr. Jessica arrived with Madison, who apparently was working with her as an intern. It was sweet Madison who checked all my vitals, including my blood pressure again. Apparently, it was unusually high. I'm less depressed than I am frustrated and restless. Everything I've tried in the last two years has stalled. I planned on finding a home within six months of moving. It's been over two years, and I still haven't. It shouldn't take me twenty years to find a decent job, either, and now the Acme is barely using me.
One thing I can control is my health. I keep putting off the mammogram and finding another gynecologist. She recommended two in Haddonfield. She also recommended a gastroenterologist to have a colonoscopy due to Dad-Bruce dying of esophageal cancer. The ladies were mostly worried about my blood pressure, which was unusually high. I figured it was from riding in the heat, but they insisted that I come back in two weeks. I'll make the appointment for the mammogram and gynecologist before then, but I'll wait to make the colonoscopy until I go back to ask more questions. The doctor also suggested I spend at least an hour taking a walk every day. After we talked, a technician took my blood work, and I was on my way.
I left the bike where it was and did walk to Sabrina's Cafe for a late breakfast. They were fairly busy, but I did get a seat at one of the huge, high tables. I finally went with iced tea and the "Spike, Set, and Game Peach French Toast" off their seasonal Olympics-themed menu. Oh yuuuuummm. Cinnamon cream, fresh peaches, whipped cream, and vanilla syrup top thick slices of brioche. Sweet, but absolutely amazing. It was some of the best French toast I ever had.
Strolled to Innergroove Records next. I didn't have a lot of time before my next appointment, so I just went through the soundtracks and $2 bins quickly. Did very well for all that. Came up with:
The soundtracks from Thank God It's Friday and The Muppet Show
Count Basie and His Orchestra - The Essential Count Basie
Frank Sinatra - That's Life
Jingle Bell Jazz, a Christmas jazz collection from 1980 with an unusually stark cover (a black and white photo of a city in a snowstorm)
Hiked down Haddon Avenue ten minutes or so to Kresloff Eye Associates for this year's eye appointment next. I got there with ten minutes to spare. I had enough time to sign a few more papers than I did at the doctor's before they called me in.
This was a lot simpler, with far better news. I was there for a routine eye exam. The doctor reported a slight tweak to my left eye, but nothing really worth worrying about. Otherwise, no changes, and my glasses are perfectly fine. I think I'll give them another year, then see where we are.
Made one last stop at Haddon Culinary on my way back to my bike. I wanted more of those delicious home-made potato chips I had with my sandwich during my Father's Day picnic. Bought a container of truffle-seasoned chips, bought a Diet Coke, headed out.
Though it remained sunny, it was also hot and humid, probably in the lower 90's, without the wind that made the heat last week mildly bearable. Not to mention, Collingswood was busy with the late lunch crowd, and my eyes were still a little blurry from my appointment. I just headed home.
Put on Laff-a-Lympics while I had lunch and got organized. This one started with a bull fight in "Spain." Dynomutt's attempt to go over the bull stalls, while Mumbly putting him to sleep backfires. Cindy Bear uses her feminine charms - and off-key singing - to win the bull over. The Rottens don't do any better in the Gypsy Cart Race, going off the track as Speed Buggy and Hokey Wolf just keep going. Daisy Mayhem and Blue Falcon do better putting a bell on the Abominable Snowman in the "Himalayas," while Grape Ape deals with an amorous Snow-woman. Captain Caveman gets stuck on the Mount Everest relay climb, thanks to the Rottens' cheating...but then he remembers his superpowers!
Switched to Bloomer Girl after that. I go further into this made-for-TV historical musical with stage star Barbara Cook as a young woman in the pre-Civil War era who advocates the scandalous bloomers for ladies at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.
Listened to CDs and records while I worked on the review. Touch Me Softly by The George Shearing Quintet lives up to its title with mostly gentle ballads like "Just Imagine," "Try a Little Tenderness," "Sundy, Monday, or Always," and the title song. Come Fly With Me by Frank Sinatra is far more lively, featuring classic travel-themed numbers like "Around the World," "On the Road to Mandalay," "Let's Get Away From It All," and "It's Nice to Go Trav'ling." Johnny Mathis performs lesser-known ballads from The Hollywood Musicals with Henry Mancini and His Orchestra, including "You Stepped Out of a Dream," "I Had the Craziest Dream," and two hits from Julie Andrews movies, "Whistling Away the Dark" and "Crazy World."
Put on Match Game '79 while eating dinner. We skip ahead again, this time to the final episodes of the CBS run. Bart Braverman and Marcia Wallace did well helping the contestants with the Head-to-Head in the first episode. In the second - and the last made for CBS - Gene helps Bill Daily try on the jacket he was giving him for his wedding. (Bill must have kept the jacket well beyond that. He wears it several times during the syndicated episodes.)
Finished the night at Kanopy with the classic western The Tin Star. Bounty hunter Morgan Hickman (Henry Fonda) rides into town to collect his pay for bringing in a dead outlaw. Young sheriff Ben Owens (Anthony Perkins) wishes he'd brought him in alive, but otherwise admires the man for his quick draw and his ability to think on his feet. Ben's girl Millie (Mary Webster) wants him to quit, but Ben asks Morgan for advice instead.
That advice comes in handy when the town's sheriff is murdered by the McCafferty brothers. Owens thinks they should be brought in alive, but the townspeople would rather they hang. Morgan just wants to find the son of Nona (Betsy Palmer) and bring him home safely. He's able to find the kid, but Owens doesn't have as much luck persuading the townspeople to give the brothers a fair trial. Owens is determined to bring those men to trial, even if he has to take on the town bully Bart Bogardus (Neville Brand) to do it.
Intense western with two strong core performances by Perkins as the youth who is determined to prove he's worthy of being a lawman, and Fonda as the former lawman who teaches Owens all he knows. Director Anthony Mann's tight and intimate direction makes the most of the B-budget, and the story was nominated for an Oscar. A must-see if you love the two stars, Mann's other work, or small-scale westerns from the 40's and 50's.
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